How to Buy and Use USD Coin (USDC) on the Base Network

USD Coin (USDC) is a stablecoin cryptocurrency that is pegged 1:1 to the US dollar. That means 1 USDC is always $1. It is issued by Circle and has grown to become a top 10 cryptocurrency with a market cap of over $40 billion by the end of 2024.

The stablecoin is available on most major cryptocurrency exchanges and is widely accepted in the digital economy. Additionally, it is available across a number of different blockchains, including the Base Network.

Below, you will learn the step-by-step process of buying USDC on the Base Network. In addition, you’ll get a complete rundown of how the Base Network links to the Ethereum blockchain. So, by the end, you understand how to purchase and start using USDC safely and effectively.

Why use USDC on Base

So why would you want to use USDC on Base if you can already use it on Ethereum?

USDC on Base is a native stablecoin for the Base blockchain, providing a stable and low-cost payment solution within the network. It allows seamless interaction with Base’s ecosystem of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, such as lending, borrowing and yield farming, all with lower fees compared to Ethereum.

On the other hand, USD Base Coin (USDbC) is a bridged version of USDC specifically for use on Base at the time of its mainnet launch. It allows users to move USDC from Ethereum to Base.

How to buy USDC on Base Network

You could use Coinbase or any other exchange (supporting the stablecoin) to buy USDC on Base Network. This article uses Coinbase as an example to demonstrate the process.

With a Coinbase account and wallet, you can store all versions of USDC in a single account. You can then select the Base Network when making transactions to send your USDC on Base.

Here are the steps to buy USDC on Base Network using Coinbase:

Create and fund a Coinbase account

You’ll need to create and verify an exchange account. Then, deposit fiat money (or crypto) into the account.

Buy/convert your funds to USDC

Using the right sidebar, select USDC and input the amount you’d like to purchase before confirming the transaction. This will give you USDC in your account.

Use USDC on Base

The clever feature of the Coinbase platform is that it tracks all versions of USDC in a single asset account and then bridges it, depending on the chain you want to use.

So, if you want to send your USDC to a Base application or wallet, just select the Base Network and Coinbase will route the USDC through Base.

Similarly, you can send USDC on Base to your regular Coinbase USDC address. Outside of Coinbase, you may see your funds displayed as USDbC, indicating that they are on the Base Network, but they retain the same value and functionality as USDC.

Did you know? USDC is fully backed by US dollar-denominated assets. So, there is one dollar held in reserve for each USDC in circulation. This makes it relatively stable, but both the USDC and USDbC prices can fluctuate fractionally, sometimes as much as $0.01

USDC vs USDbC

USDC Base Coin (USDbC) is a bridged version of the USDC stablecoin that runs on the Ethereum blockchain. The original USDC cryptocurrency is pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, meaning one token is always worth $1. This is also true for bridged versions of the coin, which enable it to be used on layer-2 blockchains.

Base is one of these layer-2 blockchains. It is a network developed by Coinbase that was designed to solve issues of scalability on Ethereum. In simple terms, Base is a blockchain built on top of Ethereum. It inherits the fundamentals and security of Ethereum, but has different protocols added to offer more flexibility and scale.

To use the Ethereum USDC stablecoin to transact on the Base blockchain, you need to “bridge” or transfer it across blockchains. When you bridge a USDC token, the original USDC is locked to the Ethereum network. Then, you are given the equivalent amount of USDbC on the Base Network.

You can then freely transact on Base with the relevant stablecoin tokens, plus you can always reverse the bridge to move back to the original Ethereum USDC.

To make things easier and remove some of these technicalities, several platforms enable you to buy USDC on Base using fiat and other cryptocurrencies.

How to transfer USDC from Ethereum to Base

Here are the steps to bridge USDC from Ethereum to Base:

Setting up your wallet: To start, you’ll need a USDbC-compatible crypto wallet. You can add Base tokens to wallets like MetaMask for self-custody or use the native Coinbase wallet and